Well, as expected, after visiting Saving Grace Animal Rescue yesterday, I adopted an dog and brought her home with me. All three of us had a bit of a hectic night – Wiggles and me especially. Our normally predictable and easy-going routine was turned on its head.
Wiggles was a bit interested in my new dog – name TBD. TBD was very interested in Wiggles, and in me. For the first time since I got her, Wiggles actually picked up a squeaky toy and chewed on it like a little crazy puppy. There was some toy envy going on between the dogs. There was some “I want all of Daddy’s attention” going on. There was some, “WTF is happening?” going on for all of us.
Needless to say, none of us got much sleep.
But, since then, we walked a bunch. There were no fights and TBD had no bathroom accidents in the house.
TBD is a BIG dog for me. She’s 26 lbs with her head reaching my knee. That makes her 2x as big as Wiggles and Snickers. To me, she’s massive. Her poop last night was almost human sized!
Today, I made the decision to find different walking routines for the 3 of us. I don’t want to deal with Wiggles going ballistic when the frequent bike riders pass us on the greenway. At least not right now. Once I get a handle on walking two dogs, perhaps I’ll return to the greenway. Truth be told, as much as I love meandering through the forest, dealing with Wiggles’s fear/aggression toward bikes made it aggravating even when it was us. I think it might be better for both of us to avoid the greenways altogether.
Saving Grace was awesome. They made some changes since I adopted Wiggles in 2020. This time, they had all of the small dogs in crates in a small patio area. I got to see every dog I had viewed online in person. I walked three of them and TBD was my clear choice. She was calm, curious and friendly toward the other dogs. She was interested in engaging with me and put her ears back gently when greeting people and dogs.
Just like online dating, some of my other choices that looked great on paper, were instantly disqualified in real life. Several were being treated for heart worm. I preferred not having to deal with that.
TBD is just so big to me.
Anyone who owns an actual big dog, like a Lab, Rottweiler or even a pit bull would laugh because she’s not truly big. I’ll get to used to her size, I’m sure.
I have no intention of returning her unless something catastrophic happens in the next few days like a bad dog fight with Wiggles or a serious health problem discovered by my vet. I’m not anticipating either.
A tiny part of me wanted to adopt one of the two Chihuahuas there or one of the smaller rat terriers. But the Chi’s were really small – like half of Wiggles size – and a bit yappy. I worried they might not be able to handle the active life Wiggles and I have. The rat terriers were younger, and the “perfect size” but their online profiles indicated some challenges that I didn’t really want to take on.
There’s even a part of me that wants to adopt a 3rd dog, a Chi mix from another rescue, who on paper seems perfect. But there is NO CHANCE I’m doing that. 2 dogs are plenty for me.
I have a short list of names I’m considering. None has stuck yet. Saving Grace named her Roomba and there’s no way I’m keeping that. So for now I’m trying out Zoomie and Sweetie Pie and a half dozen other names. I told my vet to call her TBD until I get to know her personality better and choose a name.
Ellen and I made a good team when coming up with names for our pets. We had Ziggy, Shorty, Lolita, Willow, Buster and Snickers. Every name fit perfectly. I miss having Ellen around to bounce names off of and to help with acclimating our new pets.
My world (as well as Wiggles’s and TBD’s) just got a little bigger and I suspect better.
Here she is in all her glory – Miss TBD.
